Food fight: Russia bans U.S. chicken

It seems that chickens are always the first to go in trade disputes.

Russia plans to restrict imports of U.S. poultry, according to the National Chicken Council. The move is retaliation for sanctions that American and Europe have imposed on Russia over its actions in Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin ordered his government Wednesday to come up with a list of food and agricultural imports from countries that have applied sanctions on Russia. The imports are to be banned or limited for one year.

The bigger impact from the ban will likely be felt by Russian consumers. The Russian economy is already fragile and inflation has been heating up. Chicken prices in Russia have been rising at a rate of 2% to 3% a week, according to the council.

Overall, the United States has limited trade relations with Russia. U.S. exports to Russia totaled just over $11 billion in 2013, which is a tiny fraction of the nation's $15.7 trillion gross domestic product.

"I don't think, on macro level, this will make a huge difference," said Mikhail Liluashvili, an economist at Oxford Economics.